April 13 , 2015

Villegas now divisional president at Great American Insurance Group

Cincinnati, OH--Great American Insurance Group is pleased to announce that Victor Villegas was named Divisional President of its Specialty Equipment Services Division.

Villegas joined the Company in 1990 and has held various positions of increasing responsibility within field marketing, underwriting and product management. He most recently served as the Divisional Senior Vice-president of the Specialty Equipment Services Division, and has led the Division since its formation in 2009. Villegas has 23 years of management experience in property and casualty insurance operations.

Villegas has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Florida. He also holds the Associate in Risk Management (ARM) and Certified Lease Professional (CLP) designations.

About Great American’s Specialty Equipment Services Division Great American Insurance Group’s Specialty Equipment Services Division offers equipment finance and equipment management solutions. The division’s products help financial institutions, healthcare facilities, and organizations in the private and public sectors manage risk, lessen their administrative load, and reduce expenses through custom solutions and the power of technology.

About Great American Insurance Group

Great American Insurance Group’s roots go back to 1872 with the founding of its flagship company, Great American Insurance Company. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, the operations of Great American Insurance Group are engaged primarily in property and casualty insurance, focusing on specialty commercial products for businesses, and in the sale of traditional fixed and fixed-indexed annuities in the retail, financial institutions and education markets. Great American Insurance Company has received an “A” (Excellent) or higher rating from the A.M. Best Company for over 100 years (most recent rating evaluation of “A+” (Superior) as of March 20, 2015). The members of the Great American Insurance Group are subsidiaries of American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG), also based in Cincinnati, Ohio. AFG’s common stock is listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol AFG.

Leaseurope: Leasing Volume Hits Highest Annual Growth Rate Since 2007

Europe-- Leaseurope, the trade association representing the European leasing and automotive rental industries, has released the results of its preliminary survey of the European leasing market for 2014.

The survey finds that new leasing business in Europe expanded by 8.4 per cent in 2014 reaching its highest annual rate of growth in volume since 2007.

Growth was observed across all main asset categories covered in the survey, particularly for vehicles with new leasing volumes in this segment rising by 12.4 per cent on 2013. The equipment leasing segment saw a moderate increase of nearly one per cent, while real estate leasing picked up by 7.6 per cent in 2014, witnessing the first year of growth since 2010.

While growth of the European leasing market is firming, it is uneven across countries. Nevertheless, most of national leasing markets saw positive results in 2014, which is an improvement compared to 2013, where just under half recorded negative performance. An increase in new business volumes in 2014 was largely driven by Europe’s four largest economies. It is also worth noting that some of the leasing markets in Southern Europe saw double digit growth.

Commenting on the figures, Leaseurope’s Adviser in Statistics and Economic Affairs, Jurgita Bucyte said “Against the backdrop of faltering European equipment investment throughout 2014, it is particularly encouraging to see that our industry is able to gather momentum across the board. Businesses were keen to use leasing to invest in a wide range of assets, particularly in vehicles. This trend supports the findings of our latest Business Confidence Survey, which demonstrates a positive sentiment in the leasing market for new business growth. While near-term European investment is likely to be subdued and some degree of economic uncertainty remains, equipment investment growth is projected to gradually pick up, which should bode well for the leasing business in 2015.”